Frozen Food

[gaz gun man]

can anyone give me some advice on this?

IE how often to feed?

Is it okay to take a cup of tank water, drop in a frozen cube then wait for it to defrost then pour it back into the tank?

How nutritious are they? Should they be used as a main meal, or supplimented with flakes etc at normal feeding time?

I plan to feed a cube a week, either brine shrimp or bloodworm, then continue feeding with pellets/flakes as usual on the other days, does this sound about right?

TIA guys, this is my first foray into 'live' food.

 

[Loops]

My boyfriend feeds frozen bloodworm or brineshrimp once a week, a little tank water into a small glass, then defrosts it and sucks them out with a syringe and squirts them in

Don't know if it's ok to just tip the whole thing in though sorry

All other days Flake or pellets/wafers

 

[Inchworm]

Hi gaz gun man

It's OK to defrost bloodworms by leaving them in a dish on the counter for a little while. They tend to burst when they are frozen, so I like to avoid washing away any more nutrients than necessary. Once they have defrosted, you can spill the excess blood off, or lift them out with a small fork.

 

[gaz gun man]

Hi gaz gun man

It's OK to defrost bloodworms by leaving them in a dish on the counter for a little while. They tend to burst when they are frozen, so I like to avoid washing away any more nutrients than necessary. Once they have defrosted, you can spill the excess blood off, or lift them out with a small fork.

so is tipping the water back into the tank to be avoided? The colour of the water in the cup did'nt change very much, it was still pretty clear.

 

[crazychris]

I feed frozen bloodworm twice a week and frozen brineshrimp once a week. I just drop the cubes in and there's a massive feeding frenzy!! Also feed live daphnia on a Friday (the day my LFS gets it in fresh) and live bloodworm once a week too.

 

[three-fingers]

I just chuck the cubes into the tank and let the bigger fish rip them up as they melt, the smaller fish get the bits that go everyhwhere.

I dissolve them in a glass of tank water if I want to split it between multiple tanks. I'm not too worried about the dirty water, and I sometimes go a couple of weeks feeding nothing but frozen food. IME its nothing weekly water changes and/or healthy plants cant deal with. If you only feed a couple of times a week I really wouldent even give it a second thought.

But its not hard to just defrost and strain (in a small fish net is good) them if you only have one tank and feed frozen every now and then, so if you can be bothered you may as well .

 

[gaz gun man]

Thanks everyone, I think i'll continue feeding the way I am at the minute, but feed live food the day before a water change, if anything, I under feed my fish anyway

 

[Inchworm]

Hi gaz gun man

I took a picture tonight when I was getting ready to feed my fish, so you can see the blood that comes off them when they defrost. It's not terribly bad to get some blood in the tank, but why add something that isn't going to benefit the fish and that the bacteria in the filter will have to break down?

 

[gaz gun man]

Hi gaz gun man

I took a picture tonight when I was getting ready to feed my fish, so you can see the blood that comes off them when they defrost. It's not terribly bad to get some blood in the tank, but why add something that isn't going to benefit the fish and that the bacteria in the filter will have to break down?

whoa I see why you dont just tip them in now!

Thanks for the pic, once I've done my water-change I'll add one to the tank and take a picture to show you how mine look when defrosted (about the size of a sugar cube)

 

[jimmyringo]

i used to defrost them in tank water before chucking the lot in(never caused a problem).Recently i just put the frozen cube in,the Gourami picks it apart and as it defrosts,and the worms sink, everybody gets some.this works best for me.

I usually chuck a cube in once a week,in place of my usual food.Recently i've been using earthworm pellets(bought on this forum) and they're fantastic.

 

[GlidergirlUK]

I use frozen food (gamma packs) and when they are defrosted in a small cup of tank water they dont have any blood so I just put everything back in the tank.

 

[arobinson1984]

Depends on how much you are feeding, that bowl pictured is quite alot of bloodworm.

I feed my fish bloodworm twice a week as a treat and I collect a little water in the plastic water filler from an iron, pop 1 cube in then tip it into tank when defrosted. With just 1 cube I dont get any discolouration at all.

I used to drop a frozen cube into the tank but I had a friend who's fish died a while ago and it was suspected that it has got a piece of the ice stuck in its mouth / throat so I dont drop in frozen cubes now just to be on the safe side.

Andy

 

[Inchworm]

I use Hikari frozen bloodworms, and that's a good brand. The bloodworms get divided among a number of tanks, but still....

What I don't like about them is that when the float down in the water, you can see that some of them look like partially empty skins. I much prefer to feed them live blackworms whenever possible. That way they are intact and all the nutrition goes to the fish that eat them.

I used to drop a frozen cube into the tank but I had a friend who's fish died a while ago and it was suspected that it has got a piece of the ice stuck in its mouth / throat so I dont drop in frozen cubes now just to be on the safe side.

I had wondered if that could happen. Also, these are tropical fish and it's not likely they would eat ice in their natural habitat. That's why I always defrost first.

 

[gaz gun man]

ok, here is a defrosted bloodworm cube, in about an inch of tank water

as you can see, still quite clear, considering its such a small body of water;

 

[three-fingers]

I took a picture tonight when I was getting ready to feed my fish, so you can see the blood that comes off them when they defrost. It's not terribly bad to get some blood in the tank, but why add something that isn't going to benefit the fish and that the bacteria in the filter will have to break down?

Tbh those bloodworms don't look that great! Maybe a bad batch? Or is your LFS letting them defrost before freezing them again? Because doing that can produce that affect (and destroy vitamins).

I know what you mean about them looking like empty skins, I used to get that with whatever brand Pets@Home used to sell.

I now use "BCUK Aquatics" bloodworm, and they are much larger and fuller looking. Water doesn't look anywhere near that red either.

Regardless, I would probably still just chick them in and treat the blood as plant food .